MarketStEl

Now that I've made it through the thread: What's in my cabinet and fridge right now: --Texas Pete (splash liberally on cottage cheese, yum!) --Original Tabasco (for Bloody Marys) --Tabasco Jalapeno (good mixed in scrambled eggs) --Tabasco Garlic (haven't tried it yet) --Tabasco Chipotle (try marinating your steak in this) --Tabasco Habanero (mild for a Habanero sauce; I was able to splash multiple drops of this in a batch of scrambled eggs and not even begin to burn my tongue) --Tuong Ot Sriracha (the one with the rooster on the label; this really is a versatile, not too spicy sauce that even non-fans will eat) --Melinda's Habanero XXXtra Hot (more flavor and heat than the Tabasco product, needless to say, but the store I used to get this from no longer stocks it) --Melinda's Amarillo (good mustard-based sauce) --Southern Ray's Scotch Bonnet Barbecue Sauce (since I live in a household of heatphobes, I haven't been able to use this one much; it also contains orange peel and honey to balance the heat) Stuff I've had in the past and would love to get again: --Inner Beauty (nice sweet heat) --Pain Is Good Batch #218 (like Southern Ray's, this was a gift from a friend who knew my likes). It has more complex flavors than most Louisiana-style hot sauces, which makes it useful in many more dishes, IMO. Hometown plug: The company that makes Pain Is Good is located on (natch) Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Kansas. Their web site says you can get their sauces there for less than retail or any other web site's price: Original Juan Specialty Foods (makers of Pain is Good) --Another Bloody Day in Paradise (for Bloody Marys only). This sauce has a hint of Worcestershire and horseradish already in it, which makes it good for Bloody Marys; it was concocted at a bar in Dewey Beach, Delaware, next-door neighbor to Rehoboth Beach, home of Peppers (which I try to visit whenever I vacation there). --Pickapeppa (this would also make a very good marinade) Stuff I've had in the past but don't really miss: --TryMe Tiger Sauce (didn't really live up to its name) Stuff I'm burnin' to try: --El Yucateco (had this at Zocalo restaurant) --Dave's Insanity Sauce (though once again there will be the problem of how to pass this off to my heatphobic partner, roommate and friends)

It does have more body and character -- though less heat -- than regular Tabasco. It's great for Buffalo wings (the reason I bought it--well, that and the 55c off coupon I had for the stuff) and has replaced Frank's RedHot as my preferred topping for cottage cheese.

Actually, Freshgrocer deserves kudos for demonstrating that it is possible to operate a really good, high-quality supermarket in the very areas I referred to in my last post. A friend of mine who lives near 52d and Walnut raves about the selection and the appearance of the FreshGrocer that opened last spring at 56th and Market (new construction, not a conversion from another chain). Food for thought: Would the independent operator of the Freshgrocer stores (which did business in Delaware County under the name Drexeline before opening the first Freshgrocer about four years ago) have done this had Penn not twisted his arm real hard to open a supermarket at 40th and Walnut? Sometimes our preconceptions hamstring us, I guess.

Your comment about Pathmark got me to thinking about the class issue, which has been touched upon in a similar ongoing discussion on the DC/Delmarva board. It's often been noted that supermarkets in poorer and/or largely minority neighborhoods often charge higher prices and have worse selection than those in more affluent areas, and that this is true even where the stores in question are run by the same company. Safeway (one of the dominant chains in DC, which also has--or had--a large presence in my hometown of Kansas City) seems to be notorious in this regard. In this area, it's not an issue for Safeway, for the Genuardis refused to build or open stores within the Philadelphia city limits. I understand that this was due to the Genuardi family's aversion to unions, but Whole Foods Market and predecessor Fresh Fields were and are union-hostile as well, yet they have opened stores within Philly without trouble. I've noticed in my travels around the city that, union or not, most of the major players in the local market have few or no stores in the poorer or darker parts of town. Super Fresh used to have several (57th and Vine; Progress Plaza near Temple), but all of these have closed. (The company blamed the closures on the stores' size, but 5th and Pine remains open, and it's no larger than the closed stores.) The field seems to be left to the independents (mainly Thriftway/Shop n Bag, though I noticed on that trek up 5th the other day that there is an indie chain called Cousins' Supermarket that operates stores [mostly former Penn Fruit and Acme stores, judging from the architecture] in Hispanic neighborhoods) -- and to Pathmark, which seems to be the only major chain with a significant inner-city presence in Philly. Could there be a relation between Pathmark's willingness to open stores in black/Hispanic/poor neighborhoods and its reputation among the not-so-poor and not-so-black? As for Genuardi's under Safeway: Were you living in this area two years ago, when the company ran TV and radio ads featuring employees apologizing outright for the slippage in quality and service? Or last summer, when the United Food and Commercial Workers ran radio ads in support of its organizing campaign at the chain? Those ads also contained references to the chain's deterioration under Safeway management.

4535 N. 5th St. ← Above Hunting Park Avenue, then. No wonder I missed it. We turned off 5th at Hunting Park.

I had the occasion to take a cab ride up 5th Street this past Saturday. I thought Tierra Colombiana was on this street, but saw no sign of it. Where is this place exactly?

Wegmans has stores in Pennsylvania, where the state has a total monopoly on the sale of wine and distilled spirits. I think you can put that speculation to rest. They're probably scouring the Maryland 'burbs as we chat.

I arrived in Philly just as the whole "yuppie" phenomenon was peaking (I have in my possession a rather entertaining book called Yuppies Invade My Home at Dinnnertime; it is a chronicle of the gentrification of Hoboken, N.J., as told through the letters and news stories that ran in the local weekly paper), and I can attest that, the entire series run of thirtysomething notwithstanding, the whole craze generally passed Philadelphia by. We're now seeing gentrification of the culture within the original 1682 city limits and in areas immediately adjacent, but this city remains a blue-collar town at heart. Given that the natives tend to resist things that are not Olde Local Traditions, this means that supermarket gentrification remains an isolated, scattershot phenomenon, occurring here only where Whole Foods or Wegmans have established beachheads or where an existing local chain seizes an unusual opportunity as apparently happened at the Uberfresh (which I will now have to evaluate for myself).

I can make my own Smartfood now that I have a can of Cabot powdered cheddar cheese -- they call theirs "Cheddar Shake." They gave this out as a freebie at a recent cheese-tasting in Philly (the one I mentioned in the topic "Juice and Cheese Party" in this forum). So far, I haven't seen this item in any local supermarket--not even those that carry every other Cabot cheese variety. I'm thinking of either pleading with the South Philly Acme or sending e-mail to Cabot Creamery begging them to please send me more of the stuff in exchange for appropriate financial considerations.

Mom's mom: Nebraska. Dad's mom: East Texas. Pies? I never ate Thanksgiving dinner with Mom's side of the family; Grandma Smith served only pumpkin pie, as I do to this day.

Supermarkets in the A&P family (Super Fresh is a sibling), I'm afraid, have long enjoyed reputations for dinginess--I recall that being as distinctive a feature of the A&P nearest my home in Kansas City as the ground-to-order coffee (no longer a distinctive feature of A&P stores, thanks to a more educated public; A&P has even capitalized on this by turning its former private label, Eight O'Clock, into a national brand). As for those massive supermarkets in Atlanta and Seattle, I will bet that -- like the Uberfresh -- they are surrounded by acres of parking and not all that pedestrian-friendly. I know I can get to Pier 70 on the 64 bus, but it is a bit of a schlep. While it is certainly not up to modern standards size-wise, the Super Cruise (10th and South store) scores very well on the urban-friendliness index, as does the South Street Whole Foods in the next block. They do this by putting the parking on top of the store. I'll grant that this costs more than spreading it out in front of the store, but I'd say it's worth it. I'm entitled to a free rug shampooer rental from Super Fresh thanks to my dropping lots of bucks there over the years on my club card. I was told I'd have to go to the Pier 70 store to make good on the offer. Relative to jug wine, or the stuff in the bag-in-boxes, is it better, worse or about the same? Not to mention that you can buy wine from local wineries (or in the case of 9th Street, wine packagers) within both of these markets. Blue Mountain Vineyards at the RTM has some quite good stuff; Philadelphia Wine Company on 9th Street is more run-of-the-mill. (And the PLCB has the good sense to put a State Store right next door to the RTM. The closest State Store to the Italian Market is two blocks west of Cheesesteak Corner.)

I'd add two "outsiders"/relatively recent arrivals to the list. Trader Joe's on Market Street and a place I finally gritted my teeth and got to, Costco out behind the King of Prussia Mall. I am not a fan of warehouse stores and even less of a fan of the traffic between Center City and KOP and the whole KOP mall complex, but I grudingly admit that Costco has some great quality meats, seafood and even produce, and even greater value. ← Since I'm carless, I don't shop TJ's as much as I'd like--I'd probably frequent it more if it were east of Broad. The one time I did visit, I liked what I saw: Whole Foods merchandise at Acme prices. It looks like they manage this by stocking only private-label merchandise, which brings up a relevant aside: Whole Foods' "everyday value" store brands, 365 and 365 Organic, actually offer good value and are competitive with regular supermarkets' prices. And since I'm carless, I doubt I will experience Costco anytime within the foreseeable future--a 10-minute subway ride to TJ's for specialty coffee or cheese is one thing and a 30-minute bus trek out the Schuylkill for cheap steaks entirely another. But I would like to see what makes this place so popular. When did Costco come to town? Unfortunately, since this is Pennsylvania, none of us will be able to experience one other thing both stores are known for in California: really good inexpensive wine. I guess we will have to wait to see if Two-Buck Chuck ever becomes a "Chairman's Selection" at the PLCB superstores (I will do the "Premium Collection" stores the honor of not calling them "State Stores," for they do now offer better selection and a little better service than what we have long known and hated).

I know it's odd to follow oneself up, but I'm puzzled now. 81 page views and no replies? You can't tell me that everybody on this board dines out all the time, or that my own preferences are universally agreed upon. Or is the local supermarket/food shopping scene so bland and/or undistinguished that it's not worth commenting on?

Marabella's had the longest run of any restaurant in that space--about seven years, IIRC. For a while, it was the hot "new Italian" restaurant in town, and a fair number of celebs could be spotted dining there. It went downhill after Gabe Marabella lost control of the place. Wonder how the smell of wood smoke will go over with the residents of the apartment building above?

sandy, have you tried tommy gunn's yet? ← Not yet. Did see the place when I last passed through Wissahickon Transfer on the way to King of Prussia, but that's as close as I've gotten so far. Are you offering an excursion?

I realize that the category this board is under is "Restaruants, Cuisine and Travel," which means that we should be talking about eating out. But I notice that there's material here that is only useful for those who enjoy eating in as well. Maybe I haven't searched hard enough, or maybe this has already been talked to death on one of the general boards (I know there's a grocery store survey active in General Food Topics), but I haven't seen much talk about the food shopping experience here yet. Maybe it's because, as those Clemens Family Markets ads on the radio imply, nobody really likes to go grocery shopping. Maybe I'm one of five people in the Philadelphia region who do, but I find that hard to imagine. Or maybe it's because we haven't had a chance to share our favorites and must-avoids, our pleasures and pitfalls, lately. In which case, let's have at it. I'll start with mine: Fave: The Reading Terminal Market. Goes without saying, IMO. A great marriage of variety and quality. The produce is both better and cheaper than what you'll find at the supermarket, and you can't beat the atmosphere. Who needs Wegmans when you have this homegrown gem? Fave: 9th Street ("Italian") Market. "Italian" is increasingly a misnomer, as Asians and Mexicans now make up a large part of the mix. As a result, you will now find international variety here that you probably won't find anywhere else in town--especially when you throw in the nearby Asian supermarkets on Washington Avenue. And if you're a bargain hunter, as I am, you won't beat the values you find here. When buying produce, however, unless you're shopping at Judy and Stan's stand at the market's north end, it's caveat emptor--pay attention as the clerks fill your bag with 10-for-$1 peppers. (I've noticed that the clerks don't object as much as they used to if you pick or point out the items you want. My guess is that this is a function of changing demographics.) The Italian Market also includes one of the best butcher shops in town (Esposito's) and the best cheesemonger (DiBruno Brothers--though Downtown Cheese in the RTM gives them a run on exotic varieties, DiB's still has the best combination of variety, service and price). Must avoid: Shopping at Pathmark. I will be forever scarred by a trek to the Whitman Plaza store a few summers back to take advantage of a really great ground beef special (I was planning a cookout). The store was the size of two football fields, but they used all this space to carry 60 different sizes of the same four brands rather than four different sizes of 60 brands like they should have. The decor was one step up from industrial -- which I wouldn't mind if I was specifically headed for a warehouse store (I buy frozen veggies at Save-A-Lot, fer Chrissakes), but I wasn't -- and the entire store staff seemed overworked. And their private label stinks. Interesting diversion: My neighborhood Super Cruise--I mean, Fresh. So far, I've only picked up groceries here, though.

Yah, I know...sometimes it just seems like this forum's nothing but Restaurants! Restaurants! Restaurants!!!!!!! ← The Pennsylvania board, where I usually hang out, is not that much different. And I know that Philadelphians love to cook, given how we mob events like the annual The Book and the Cook festival and the recent Food Network Big Food Show. Maybe it's because the cooks can talk cooking elsewhere on eGullet, but there aren't too many other places to talk about your favorite local restaurants? (I also like talking about grocery shopping, which is why I parachuted into this discussion when I spotted it in "Today's Active Topics.") (Addendum: Maybe there is a difference. I just looked at the topic list on the DC/DelMarVa board, and the only two pinned items were a digest of the Washington Post food section and a chat archive. Two of the pinned items on the Pennsylvania board discuss fresh produce--"Fair Food Farmstand" (in season) and "This Week at Market".)

Super Fresh pulled out of the DC market? When? Interesting. I have a recollection of the then-chairman of A&P back in the early 1990s saying the company would not remain in markets where it was not one of the top three in market share. In Philadelphia, where the Super Fresh division was born out of the ashes of the A&P Philadelphia region, the chain has never risen above #4 in market share, behind perennial leader Acme (Albertson's), Genuardi's (Safeway since 2001) and (variously) Pathmark/Giant (same corporate parent as the DC Giant but different HQ and operating philosophy)/Clemens Family Markets. Points of some relevance for the DC board: 1. If Super Fresh no longer operates in the Washington region, then we have reciprocal failures. Giant (Landover) entered the Philadelphia market in 1999, operating as "Super G" to avoid confusion with not-yet-corporate-sister Giant (Carlisle, Pa.), which operated on an "everyday low prices" model. The niche they were after was already firmly in the hands of the Genuardi family's chain (about which more below), and they had closed all their Pennsylvania stores within two years. I think there may still be some Super G's operating in South Jersey, where Genuardi's had no stores. (Genuardi's purchased Zagara's, a specialty grocer in Marlton, N.J., about a year before Safeway bought the chain.) 2. It appears that Safeway has a knack for not running stores well. (Which does not jibe with my memories of shopping there with my grandparents in Kansas City, where the chain still has stores, IIRC. The differences in quality and variety of merchandise between stores in black neighborhoods and those in white ones, however, does.) After Safeway purchased the family-owned Genuardi's chain in 2001, the company implemented a bunch of changes all at once, including replacing popular private labels with Safeway brands that the customers considered inferior. The quality of service--on which Genuardi's reputation was based--also slipped badly, and with it, the chain's market share. About the only thing they didn't change was the name on the stores--apparently Safeway learned from the bad reactions Philadelphians had to name changes on other well-regarded local institutions (Girard Bank, John Wanamaker...). That wasn't enough, though--Safeway had to run ads that featured employees apologizing outright for the deterioration in the summer of 2002. "Giving our best"? Apparently not.

Maybe??? On the whole, I prefer real bread, but there are times when only that spongy, air-filled white stuff will do. Sopping up the sauce that spilled off your 'cue is one of those times. --Sandy, jonesin' for Gates' sauce as he types this

They usually are. $22 doesn't sound too far out of line for ribs, depending on how much they give you. As of now, the best 'cue I've had came from a hole in the wall at 55th and Baltimore (the name "Belmont" for some reason sticks in my head) that used a Carolina-style, vinegar-based barbecue sauce. I have a friend who raves constantly about the Rib Crib on Germantown, but have yet to try that place. There was another joint near Belmont and Lancaster that was pretty decent; its name escapes me too. Actually, a colleague of mine asked me what sort of restaurant I'd open at Penn if I had my druthers for a story he did for The Pennsylvania Gazette back in April 1997. Here's what I said, along with answers from other Penn people. Since I can easily route my trip home through the 1400 block of Locust, I can see whether this place meets the criteria.

A few more signs that something's soaking in: --"Adult Happy Meals." --Kids' Happy Meals with fruit and juice or milk in place of the fries and soda. There may still be problems with Big Fast Food, but it's clear that people like Schlosser and films like "Super Size Me!" have caught the public's--and hence the fast food merchants'--attention. The smoking analogy is more than a little relevant. First, it shows that people can be educated to change their bad habits; just don't expect dramatic results overnight. Second, it shows that messages matter. It wasn't enough to put out the bad news about smoking; it was also necessary to regulate the companies that wanted you to ignore that message and that used their own advertising to drown it out. (I'm sure that the fast-food industry is very aware of the outcome of those tobacco lawsuits. We can't completely trash the trial lawyers here, for it was their work as much as anything else that really uncovered the campaign of deception Big Tobacco waged from 1964 onward.) Third, it shows that we cannot rely on either a purely libertarian ("it's all up to you, folks") or a purely statist ("There oughta be a law!") approach to repairing the damage done. One area in which state action is useful is in forcing more disclosure of information--in effect, helping the libertarians achieve their stated goal of allowing people to exercise their personal responsibility. Why is state action needed here? Because the groups that can publicize the real story on fast food and nutrition usually cannot match the ad budgets of the fast-food companies, so their message gets lost amid all the come-ons. The companies have historically been reluctant to disclose more information about their foods' nutritiousness, in part because doing so leaves less room or time for the sales pitch. One more thing: The companies complain that these works lack balance. Well, they're right. Just like the companies' own PR lacks balance. Sometimes, "biased" reporting coming from someone with a clear point of view actually contributes more to a debate than objective, both-sides-now reporting does.

Now we're in the neighborhood of my own favorite piece o'crap guilty pleasure: Cheese puffs. Baked, not fried--the ones all puffed up with air. Almost any brand will do, but tops on my list is Herr's Hot Cheese Curls. But while we're on the subject of cheese popcorn: I discovered something at a Cabot Cheese tasting event recently that I am going to have to pester my local supermarket to carry--Cabot Cheddar Shake. That's right, folks--powdered cheddar cheese in a shaker jar! (Actually, it's the genuine article, finely grated, like Kraft or 4C Parmesan.) Now all I have to do is make some popcorn -- the old-fashioned way, on top of the stove -- shake this stuff all over it, and I'm in heaven. Oh, one more thing: anybody else here like to scarf down cottage cheese with hot sauce? (The milder cayenne sauces like Frank's RedHot work best, IMO.)

Fortunately, Tony learned pretty quickly that the gay businesses in the area (yes, even Danny's) were potential allies in his 13th Street transformation rather than threats. <clears throat by way of trying to catch Rich's attention, even though it's Rich's editor's attention he is waiting for; yes, he will continue to wait...> Improving the retail mix on Chestnut will no doubt bring more--okay, let's get real here; more upscale--foot traffic to the street, and maybe some of that might trickle down to Walnut. I think that an influx of office workers along this stretch would require an influx of office space. Other than the upper floors of the Kmart building at The Gallery, I don't see this happening along East Market any time soon. Yes, but why would anyone coming out of Pompeii want a hoagie right afterwards? Unless what you are talking about is the culinary equivalent of window-shoppers: folks who ooh and aah over the deluxe restaurant but go over to the take-out because they can afford that.

Actually, I remember that there were two LeBus buses. The big one--on Sansom, IIRC, near where the brick-and-mortar LeBus eventually opened--was the Partridge Family surplus vehicle you recall. There was also a second, smaller bus, which only sold the "famous, gooey LeBus pizza", located on 33d Street behind the Chemistry Building. (Their pizza did live up to its billing, and it was quite good.) Shifting gears: I can now report on the Cuban sandwich served by the MexiMovil cart, which, it appears, is normally stationed on North 33d between Arch and Cherry streets. Be sure to get a knife and fork and plenty of napkins when you order one of these, and spread out the napkins in your lap if you're not eating at a table--you're bound to spill some of the contents. This sandwich contains some of every meat the truck sells--chicken, beef, pork, chorizo, and what they call "Mexican sausage" (whatever that is; perhaps that's chorizo?)--along with lettuce, tomatoes, a fried egg and a hot dog, on a short steak roll spread with mayo. Contrary to what you might expect, it's not all that spicy--just a hint of cayenne and chili. It's pretty tasty, it fills you up, and it's all of $6. I understand there are some other places in this city that serve Cuban sandwiches. I'd like to hear about them so I have something to compare this to. The item I would really like to find, though, is the non-alcoholic sangria-flavor soda this truck sells. It's imported from Mexico, so I imagine that one of the Mexican groceries on 9th Street may have it.

Today's Food Truck Discovery: The Scrapple Wrap. This breakfast item is on the menu of a Drexel truck, Stan's Hand Tossed Pizza. (Stan purchases frozen pizza dough balls and works them out right in the truck.) Ingredients: Scrapple (cooked in advance), eggs and cheese, rolled up in a flour tortilla. Price: $3. Verdict: Not bad at all, and I prefer the flour tortilla to the steak or Kaiser roll as a container. Interesting, though, that none of the other vendors in the 3100 block of Ludlow I've run across yet offer scrapple as a breakfast sandwich option. (Stan also has bacon, ham, sausage and turkey as breakfast wrap options, as do most of the other trucks, some of which omit the turkey.) Now I'll have to try his pizza to see if it's as good as a stationary pizzeria's. (Choices: Cheese, pepperoni, sausage, bacon, hamburger.)